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The following was a post written about housebreaking on the Pap-L list, in response to a question. Letitia Alamia, the author, graciously gave permission for it to appear on this website.
Housebreaking by Leticia Alamia
I teach Puppy Kindergarten classes and have done so for about 20 years. My classes include many toy breeds and include my own Papillon puppies as well as my German Shepherd Dog puppies. The following is a condensed version of my "housetraining surfaces" material, but it is still long, sorry. Paps are no more difficult to housetrain than most small dogs. There are several things to take into account when housetraining any dog young or old, large or small. The first thing to consider is how does the dog comprehend the housetraining process. Most people seem to think that the dog "understands" what they are thinking when they are trying to establish housetraining. That the dog knows that pottying in the house is "bad" and outside "good." That spitefulness, jealousy, anger, territoriality etc. are important factors in poor housetraining. Sexual territoriality in intact adult males and females can trigger urine marking in the house especially when the female is coming in heat. However, sexual behavior is not what is happening with young dogs, neutered dogs etc. which is what most people have as pets. Dogs become housetrained because they have an instinctive desire to avoid soiling their home space. For large dogs, the entire house is easily comprehended by the dog as a "homespace," but for small dogs this homespace can be very small. They may see the bed where they sleep with you as "homespace", but the rest of the bedroom is the "backyard." Or the hallway, guest bedroom, behind the sofa, dining area etc. can be the dog's idea of a safe backyard and his homespace is only the kitchen or bedroom. Once you understand this, you can begin to train him by making those undesirable (to you) places unavailable to the dog and the correct spaces available and safe--from his standpoint! Some ways to accomplish this is by using a leash, by confining the dog in an ex-pen outside on the grass or even putting some paper outside to help him understand! If you are not always available (work etc.), the dog should have an indoor enclosure (ex-pen or whatever) that has newspaper or puppy litter box so that he can relieve himself there. This is also handy for rainy or snowy or other weather problem days. He can learn to relieve himself in his "potty space" when he is indoors and feels the need to go, but is not being offered the chance to go outside. Dogs are conditioned and socialized to relieve themselves on a surface or type of surface at the same time as they are open to socialization to other conditions which is between 5 wks and 12-16 wks of age. The older they get, the less they are open to new information. This helps explain the problems with relieving themselves on hard surfaces such as the concrete porch--the dog learned at an early age to relieve himself on concrete or puppy piddle pads or newspaper or grass or bare dirt or whatever. Can he learn something new, yes, but it takes time and patience and he will always have some inclination to choose the surface that he learned first. He must be prrevented from going to his first choice if that is not what you want him to do therefore, he must be put on the desired surface (grass etc.) and kept there by a leash or an exercise pen until he goes and then praised lavishly for going in the right place. Clicker training can help him understand what you want, but that is a whole other subject. Beyond this, his owner must always go outside with him to relieve himself (the dog--not the owner!). It is critical that a person always go outside with any dog that comes back inside and relieves himself and also any rescue or young dog that is having problems. The world is a scarey place for many small dogs and they are hearing things that you don't even think about such as a dog barking loudly two blocks away or airplane, car, train etc. noises and a million others. They cannot relax and relieve themselves as long as they are worried about scarey things. I believe if you think of housetraining as a process by which you guide the dog in making choices that are desired by you and praise those choices even if they were created by a leash or confinement area, that you will be much happier with the housetraining process and your puppy or rescue will be lots happier also. Remember, think like a puppy! Letty Alamia, petsnpeopl@aol.com CHAOS German Shepherd Dogs and Papillons (c) May 12, 2003 -- Post originally on Papillon-L (Homepage: http://www.papillon-l.com) Permission obtained from the author for use on this website. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All photographs on this site are copyrighted to the photographer, even if they do not contain a copyright logo. All articles contained herein are used with permission of the authors. Website © Firerose Papillons, 1999 - 2009, all rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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